2011-2012 NHL Northeast Division Preview: Can the Bruins Repeat?

Can Zdeno Chara lead the Bruins to a second straight Stanley Cup? (slidingsideways/Flickr)

The Northeast used to be considered the NHL’s most exciting division. Lately, though, that hasn’t been the case.

Aside from the Boston Bruins becoming the new Stanley Cup champions in 2011, the Northeast Division has been somewhat dull. While the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres both qualified for the post season, neither made it past the first round.

The Sabres, however, seem to be on the right track after an impressive off-season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, meanwhile, are both young, re-building franchises that are almost sure to be a force within the next decade.

Mix that in with the Stanley Cup champions and two teams that will certainly be more than entertaining to watch, and the NHL’s Northeast Division just may regain it’s title of being the most exciting division in hockey this season.

But as we look deeper into the statistics and each teams’ roster, we see something unique about each squad.

In no particular order, here is a quick preview of each Northeast Division team.

Boston Bruins

This season may just be the toughest in recent history for the Bruins. There have been teams in the past who have won the Stanley Cup and gone on to struggle the following season. However, there are plenty of reasons to believe the Bruins will not join that group.

For one, the Bruins will once again have all-star goalie Tim Thomas backing them up. The 37-year-old veteran finished with a goals against average of 2.00 and a save percentage of .938 last season, both of which were at the top of the league.

Secondly, the Bruins have one of the NHL’s best defencemen anchoring the team’s back-end in Zdeno Chara, who, at the age of 34, scored 14 goals and 44 points while finishing with a plus/minus rating of plus-33.

Also on the blue line will be newly acquired defenceman Joe Corvo, who will surely provide the upgrade the Bruins were looking for.

World class goaltending, a strong defence group and talented forwards all make B’s fans believe this team has a legitimate shot at successfully defending both the Stanley Cup and the top spot in the Northeast.

The Sabres just may turn out to be the most exciting Northeast Division team to watch this season. With the additions of high-priced players such as Christian Ehrhoff, Ville Leino and Robyn Regehr, the Sabres will certainly be a forced to be reckoned with in 2011-2012.

Much like the Bruins, the Sabres will be backed up by a proven NHL goalie who has more than impressive career statistics.

Ryan Miller (HermanVonPetri)

Ryan Miller just about set new career highs last season. The 31-year-old finished with a 2.57 GAA, a .914 save percentage and a total of 34 wins; once again establishing himself as one of the best at his position.

But as THW’s own Tim Kolupanowich alluded to one of his recent articles, one of the biggest questions facing the Sabres this season is how Derek Roy responds to major knee surgery. If Roy plays up to his potential, we may just see the Sabres in the Stanley Cup Final this season.

Make no mistake about it, though, the Sabres will be near the top of the Eastern Conference after 82 games.

Montreal Canadiens

Although not as close this time around, the Canadiens’ season came right down to the end. The team managed to make the playoffs once again; however, this time by five points. Even with the addition of Erik Cole, though, people still have to wonder if the Canadiens are going to lock up a playoff spot relatively early.

No one really knows if Andrei Markov will last a full season, if PK Subban will be able to avoid a sophomore slump, just how fine Max Pacioretty is, or─dare I say─whether Carey Price can repeat his success from last season.

While most, if not all of those players will be fine, Habs fans still shouldn’t get too confident. The only major addition made by the Canadiens in the off-season was Erik Cole, meaning we may not see a lot of improvement from the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge in 2011-2012.

However, it is still very likely that we will see the Canadiens in the playoffs again in 2012.

Toronto Maple Leafs

There’s no doubt that the Maple Leafs’ 2011-2012 season and their shot at the playoffs relies on a lot of “ifs”: If Nikolai Kulemin scores 30 goals again; if Phil Kessel can score 40; if James Reimer can stay a top-tier goalie; if Tim Connolly can remain healthy.

Nikolai Kulemin will probably find himself on the Leafs' top line this season (Icon SMI)

While many hockey journalists are expecting the Leafs to finish out of the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season, fans should be relatively optimistic.

Assuming Reimer remains around the 2.65 and .910 mark in terms of statistics, the Maple Leafs defence group will know that they can afford to take risks in front of their goalie. That’s something that has plagued the Leafs’ back-end over the years without a solid No. 1 goaltender.

The Buds are going to need strong goaltending and solid play from the defence. Many Leafs forwards either struggled last season or have little to no experience. If that proves to be a problem once again, good play from the defenders certainly won’t go unnoticed.

Ottawa Senators

The summer of 2009 was one of the worst summers to be a Senators fan. With superstar Dany Heatley having demanded a trade, the Senators’ front office was put in a tough position.

After months of speculation and negotiating, the Sens traded the disgruntled forward to the San Jose Sharks. Everything turned out to be OK for the Sens in 2009-2010, but the team really fell apart in 2010-2011.

Daniel Alfredsson will soon be passing the torch on to Erik Karlsson (Andrew Rodger/THW)

Realizing his team wasn’t going to make the playoffs during the latter half of the season, Sens general manager Brian Murray traded away the likes of Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Alex Kovalev and Jarkko Ruutu. 2010-2011 marked the beginning of a new era for the Senators.

Now, as the 2011-2012 season approaches, Sens fans can only wonder what the future holds. The team will be made up of young players trying to prove themselves for the most part, with veterans such as Daniel Alfredsson, Sergei Gonchar and Jason Spezza at the top of the leadership department.

Also new to the Sens this year is their head coach, Paul MacLean. MacLean spent six years under Mike Babcock as an assistant coach in Detroit, meaning he isn’t exactly a brand new coach in the NHL. His style will certainly bring an all-new system and attitude to a team that has had a hard time finding the right coach since Brain Murray moved upstairs.

What exactly does “exciting” mean? I do agree with the majority of what was said but I’m somewhat baffled as to what you mean by “exciting”. As mentioned before, the NE division had a variety of different rivalries including one of, if not the most exciting rivalry in Montreal/Boston. I am by no means saying NE was the most skilled division, but by my standards, it was rather exciting.

They certainly do have an underrated defence group, but I wouldn’t call it one of the best in the league.

Will

Northeastern division is by far the most entertaining and if you go back two seasons ago their were 4 teams in the playoffs.. I will go as far as saying that the Northeastern division is by far the hardest to play in and against, the fast paced puckmoving that goes on in this division is bar none and the amount of rivalries that go on in this division is also bar none. Boston vs Buffalo is one of the roughest grittiest hockey, same goes for Boston vs Montreal, Montreal vs Toronto, Ottawa vs Leafs, Ottawa vs Buffalo. That is not including quite possibly the best lineup of golies ; Price, Thomas/Rask, Miller, Anderson, name me a division with a better lineup of golies. Good luck to any team playing teams in this division.

You’re correct in saying that the Northeast has some of, if not the best rivalries in hockey. The only reason I don’t think it’s the most exciting division anymore is that a few of the other divisions have become outstanding.

Look at the Atlantic. With Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the Rangers, it is home to some of the most talented and well-rounded teams and players in the league.

The same goes for the Pacific Division. Every team in the Pacific had 95 points or more last season and only one team missed the playoffs. Don’t forget how tight the Western Conference was either.

Will

I agree with your assessment on the teams but I just don’t agree with the term dull, been a new division champion every year since 2000 so good chance boston does not win the division this year, and the overall speed in the NE division is quite fast pace, though everyone has their opinion and I respect yours, those other divisions are very entertaining to watch aswell.

Slade

I agree with you: as a lifelong Sabres fan, the NE Division is the epitome of smashmouth hockey. The high-flying WC divisions just don’t bring enough grit to the game.

Gary Bettman

If the Habs had MaxPac, Markov and Gorges in the lineup against the B’s last year…..you have to believe they would be better for at least 2 more goals in that 7 games series……and that alone would’ve been the difference.

By simply getting healthy and adding Cole this team is a better team than what it was last year. So go ahead and pick them to squeak into the playoffs. This team will finish in the top 4 in the conference.

Joe

I’ve read this paragraph several times and can make little sense of it:

“This season may just be the toughest in recent history for the Bruins. It’s almost impossible to count the amount of teams that have won the Stanley Cup and fallen short of the playoffs the following season. However, there are plenty of reasons to believe the Bruins will not join that group.”

It’s actually not at all difficult to count the number of teams who have won the Cup and then missed the playoffs: 7 times since the NHL began.

I stopped reading after that.

Lukas, you obviously like hockey but there’s a big difference between being a fan and blogger and a real writer.

“short of the playoffs” could be interpreted as “Quick playoffs exit.” I think it obvious the Bruins will make the playoffs but will they repeat with another cup that highly unlikely.

Joe

Oh boy, Gorges and Pacioretty, how did you survive without those 2 All Stars?

Bruce Hollingdrake

Gorges plays a lot of minutes and plays each one with heart, energy and conviction – same goes with Max…they are both underrated in my opinion and were missed. You don’t need a pile of All-Stars to win you need heart (recent finals being a great example) and they have it in spades.

Tony

It’s incredible how much of a stupid bleep you are

Joe

Tony, Tony, Tony…….Why the hostilities?

Bruce Hollingdrake

Lukas – you failed to mention that the Habs came right down to the wire against the Cup winning Bruins – and that was without arguably our No. 1 player, Markov. Also missing were Gorges and Pacioretty.

With one of best goaltenders in the league, a young sparkplug on D (Subban), the addition of Cole and the return of two of the top 4 d-men, I think they are the team to beat in the Northeast.

Those three will certainly provide a boost for the Habs this season, Bruce.

The thing about Pacioretty, though, is that no one really knows just how fine he is. He may feel 100% and the doctors might not see anything wrong, but how many times have we seen players with concussions say they are good to go and then have to sit out more games? I’m hoping that doesn’t happen to Pacioretty, but it’s still a possibility.

PK Subban’s situation is slightly similar. How many times have we seen rookies come into the league and blow everybody away but struggle the following season? We just don’t know what will happen.

I think the Canadiens will still make the playoffs if Subban and Pacioretty have a tough season, but still don’t think it will be easy.

If Subban and Pacioretty are 100% fine and play up to the expectations that have been set, I expect to see the Habs anywhere from third to sixth in the conference.

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